All out of Love
by Jo05
Summary: Marguerite is tormenting by her dreams at night. Can Roxton help her to find her peace of mind again?...


All Out of Love by Janina aka Jo (rachel84de@yahoo.de)  
  
Disclaimer: *sigh* unfortunaltely I don´t own these fantastic charakters (I think New Line does it) and no I won´t earn any money with these story :)  
  
Author´s Note: These is my first FF and I hope you like it. I would love it when you review ;)  
  
***  
  
"Marguerite!" Lord John Roxton entered, worried, into the dark room of the heiress.  
  
He hadn't been able to sleep. Before he would lie in bed awake for hours, the Lord decided to make a tea for himself and, after which, hopefully fall into the longed for sleep.  
  
To reach the kitchen, he had to pass by the bedrooms of the others. The whole tree house lay in a deep silence, except that the lamenting reputation of a night bird occasionally disturbed the idyll of the night.  
  
John enjoyed the silence and continued his way into the kitchen, when he suddenly heard a quiet whimpering from Marguerite's room.  
  
Carefully not to frighten her, the Lord opened the door and entered the room. Immediately her smell surrounded him, it was already so familiar to Roxton.  
  
The gentle light of the moon shone on her bed and wrapped it in a night blue glimmer. John's look wandered to Marguerite. The otherwise strong woman lay whimpering and crouched there, her breath was irregular.  
  
Many years ago in London  
  
A dark haired girl, approximately ten years old, looked with sad eyes from one of the numerous big and unfriendly windows.  
  
The boarding school vacation had started a few days ago. Everyone had gone to spend their free time with their parents. The nearly endless corridors of the boarding school seemed suddenly and even more dangerous than before.  
  
The girl stood motionless and looked out into the rain. Thick raindrops ran heavily down the window panes only to dry up later, forever in the ground.  
  
Today was her birthday, and this was the only information that she had over her origin.  
  
A nun came toward her:  
  
"Miss Krux, your private tuition into linguistics starts in half an hour. Please be punctual!"  
  
The girl averted the look from the window and looked with sad grey eyes at the nun before she answered:  
  
"I promise to be punctual." She hesitated, before she continued: "Nurse Marie Claire . . . has a letter arrived for me?"  
  
The gaunt nun looked pityingly at Marguerite with her warm russet eyes.  
  
"No, I ´m sorry Miss Krux perhaps next year."  
  
Nurse Marie Claire knew that it was wrong to raise false hopes in Marguerite and that it also would break her heart the next year. Every year, Marguerite hoped to receive a letter from her parents on her birthday, although the girl didn't know her real parents.  
  
"Thank you . . . yes perhaps next year."  
  
Hiding her disappointment the girl again looked out into the rain.  
  
The nun stroked the child over the curly dark hair, before she went into the chapel.  
  
The girl stood again motionless and alone, looking from the window to the great impersonal corridor. Now silent tears forced their way over her cheeks to equal to the rain - fall and dry up.  
  
Roxton moved closer to Marguerite's bed.  
  
A cloud which had refused the moon before moved on and allowed the moon to illuminate the night. With new won strength of the moon, the room of the heiress brightened.  
  
This made it possible for the Lord to see Marguerite's face clearer. What he saw, deeply stirred him. The otherwise self-controlled, heavily interpretable, lovely face had lost all control. Marguerite looked like a sleeping child, but the expression wasn't peaceful as normally expected from a child. It saddened him.  
  
When he saw the tears which ran over her face, John had to force himself not to comfort the woman, who he loved of whole heart and take into his arms.  
  
"Oh Marguerite! Why can you not open up to me? What depresses you so much that it pursues you in your sleep?"  
  
Roxton left the room with a heavy heart. He still could detect her smell and feel her presence in the corridor. It hadn't been easy for Roxton to leave her in this situation. But, if Marguerite were to wake up, she wouldn't want him to see her in this condition.  
  
Roxton decided, after this night, to do everything conceivable so that Marguerite Krux would find peace of mind again.  
  
~*E°*~  
  
The morning broke, and the sun slowly appeared behind the invincible mountain ranges of the plateau to start the cycle between day and night once more.  
  
While the night active life retired to their hiding places, the day active plateau residents woke up and started once more the struggle for their existence.  
  
Birds started their song; thick dewdrops fell off the plants and the wafts of mist which covered the floor the night before rose to the sky sand then to dissolving there. Life seemed to start once more.  
  
There was still silence in the tree house.  
  
Marguerite woke suddenly from her sleep. The pictures of her dream were still so clear and depressed her so.  
  
She had so often seen these pictures in her sleep. Her past pursued her everywhere, even to the lost world. Marguerite's well-known inner unrest had once again returned this morning.  
  
Tomorrow . . . tomorrow, would this day repeat again. The day since her childhood happened as the saddest and lonesome day of the year - her birthday - Marguerite reached instinctively for the heart-shaped locket on her chain. She had so often read the engraved words inside.  
  
"For our Daughter Marguerite Forever in Our Hearts"  
  
Where were they, if they didn't want to forget their daughter? Where were they all those whole years that they never gave a sign of themselves?  
  
At that moment, the first sunbeams shone through her room. The heiress noticed the happy bird song which one impelled up to the tree house.  
  
"If I could be one of you, a bird, then I could have my liberty and fly away, where there is peace"  
  
Marguerite left her bed and strode out onto the balcony of her room. The coolness of the night hadn't faded away yet and her bare feet would be cold soon, but this was unimportant to her. Although she had slept the whole night, she was terribly tired, almost feeble.  
  
A couple of rooms away, John Roxton woke up from a two-hour sleep. It was enough sleep for the hunter. Roxton looked at his watch and noticed that it was still a little too early for getting up. On the other hand, he could not forget the pictures which he had seen last night in Marguerites room.  
  
John got up and went out onto the balcony of his room. The jungle had unchanged dived in a firm green which still carried so many secrets into himself. He leaned on the parapet of the balcony and breathed in the fresh morning air.  
  
Marguerite retired, shivering, into her room. The cool, fresh air had been good for her. It had helped the heiress to replace the sad thoughts and to strengthen her again. She thought now, to have enough strength to make it through the day, enough strength, not to fall crying into the arms of John Roxton.  
  
John Roxton ... what had he done with her? Marguerite had already often caught herself, that she felt safe and protected in his proximity. Even if she argued with John, she was surrounded with a permanent feeling of security.  
  
A gentle smile swirled about her lips at the thought on the hunter. She got dressed, to set the table in the kitchen for the breakfast, because this morning was her turn to cook.  
  
Lord Roxton stood still leaning against the parapet of his balcony when he heard the rattling of the cups from the kitchen. 'Marguerite!' He immediately thought. The Lord went on the way to the kitchen, too. Before he arrived there, Veronica held him back and asked him to follow into her room.  
  
Ned Malone and George Challenger already sat in the room of the young woman.  
  
"Why are you all here?" The Lord looked questioning into the two faces. "Shhhh!!! Please be not so loud, John. We don't want Marguerite to hear us". Veronica continued with muffled voice: "You know tomorrow is Marguerite's birthday and we plan a surprise celebration."  
  
Malone told Roxton how they wanted to organize the celebration and what he should do, that Marguerite suspected nothing of this.  
  
John summarized everything to avoid misunderstandings on the end of the meeting: "If I understand everything correctly, then Marguerite and I leave the tree house later for the reason to look for plants for an experiment and we are not allowed to be back before tomorrow evening."  
  
Challenger got up and handed a list to the Lord with the names of the missing plants. "Exactly, John. On this list are mainly plants which can be found nearby a lake. You won ´t have problems to find them". Roxton nodded and let the list disappear in his trouser pocket. "Then I will report to Mrs Krux of this, now". With these words John Roxton left the room and went into the kitchen.  
  
To all surprise Marguerite agrees immediately to help with the search of the plants.  
  
When Marguerite and Roxton burst the sun was high at the sky and the intensive sunbeams warmed the cool air of the morning very fast. The whole plateau was overcome by a tropical heat. A heavy sultriness which made every step to a great effort supervened on the heat. Even the birds had stopped their singing; a single reputation of a dinosaur sounded occasionally from the distance, only the continual cicadas of the crickets was heard.  
  
The weather on this plateau could be unpredictable.  
  
Marguerite took her hat off; dark strands of hair had broken loose from her plait and fell onto her face. A fine film of sweat stood out on her forehead and neckline. She wanted nothing more as to be able to take a refreshing bath.  
  
John Roxton stopped beside Marguerite, he looked up into the sky but he couldn't see any clouds, only a radiant blue.  
  
"John, how much time will it be before we arrive at the lake? I don't want to complain but I no longer have enough strength to go on."  
  
The Lord looked understandingly at the dark-haired woman. He thought in the meantime to know and to be able to interpret Marguerite Krux thoughts.  
  
Although she tried to hide it, he saw a deep pain and spiritual exhaustion in her unfathomable eyes. A wave of deep emotions overcame him, he tenderly stroked with the back of his hand over Marguerites left cheek. Dark eyes met grey.  
  
"We will reach the lake in about two hours. You look tired. I suggest we take a break before we go on."  
  
Nobody made institutions to move. Only John's hand didn't stroke her cheek any more, for this his hand played with a hair strand now.  
  
She trusted him, no; she loved him of the whole heart. Since she knew Lord John Roxton, that strong shield in her life had got a deep rip. A rip which had exposed the way to her heart and permitted this to love again, loving him.  
  
Suddenly a real fear overcame Marguerite about her strong feelings which she showed for the hunter.  
  
"Roxton ... I ... I don't need a break, we should make our way again instead of standing in the blazing sun."  
  
With these words the heiress put her hat on and walked away from the Lord.  
  
"Marguerite!" The despair in his voice kept her moving. "Why do you avoid me? What are you so afraid that you cannot entrust to me?"  
  
Tears appeared in the eyes of the heiress. He loved her; she knew it without him needing to say it. She hurt him because she turned away from him. She answered with a tear suffocated voice: "John ... I don't know it ".  
  
Without waiting for an answer, Marguerite continued the way which leads them to the lake. Roxton stood still for a moment and watched her before he followed.  
  
The sun burned down relentlessly on Marguerite and Roxton while they silently went on their way.  
  
~*E°*~  
  
The Lord was right with his assumption. After an exerting two hour walk there appeared this magical bewitching glitter of the lake between the jungle trees.  
  
When Marguerite and Roxton came closer to the lake it offered them both a fairytale sight. Thick areas of blossoming lilies edged the shore, taken off by reed; in the midst of the lake the water lilies stretched their heads out of the water.  
  
Continual splashing water from a nearby waterfall formed gentle waves on the water surface. No breath of wind had to be felt, dragon-flies danced in the air and awarded the sight of idleness and peace.  
  
They stood there for several minutes and watched this event. For both it was assured that they would keep this sight forever in their hearts.  
  
"Oh John, it is wonderful!" The heiress sighed deeply and looked gently at the hunter with her eyes. He answered: "Yes, it almost seems not real. Nonetheless, we must set up camp for the night."  
  
The occurrence was soon forgotten and Marguerite hesitantly got down to helping Roxton.  
  
Darkness soon came upon them. Marguerite looked up from the crackling campfire; Roxton stood a few metres from the shore of the lake. He was deep in thought when he noticed that somebody stood behind him. He turned round, it was Marguerite. She stood next to him and said nothing, but listened to the silence for a moment.  
  
"You asked me this afternoon why I avoid you." He nodded.  
  
"I am afraid." Roxton knew how hard it was for her to tell this to him.  
  
"What makes you have so much fear?"  
  
She was silent for a moment before she answered him. "I ´m afraid to be left again". Tears came to her eyes "My parents did it. They simply left me, like a dog, which got to be annoying! Oh John, its hurts so bad!" Her voice broke, easy sobs, which increasingly became stronger, went through her body.  
  
"Oh Marguerite, I ´m so sorry." With these words he took the woman of his heart into his arms. They stood and hugged for several minutes. Marguerite's tears dried up and there was a complete new inner quiet.  
  
A light breeze arose and mixed the smell of the campfire with the sweet smell of the lilies.  
  
Their looks met again, but this time it was different. "Marguerite, I have never said this to a woman before, because I haven ´t felt so strongly for anyone of them, like I do for you." He waited a moment before he spoke further. "Perhaps you already suspect what I want to tell you ... Marguerite ... I love you."  
  
Tears shimmered in her eyes again, but this time it was tears of emotion. Marguerite hugged Roxton tighter. Her face lay near his right ear. She stayed for a short moment before she opened her heart with a gentle voice:  
  
"I love you, too".  
  
Everything around Marguerite and John seemed forgotten, only their togetherness and the decisive words which they had told themselves before, existed.  
  
Slowly the Lord bowed his head and closed Marguerites lips with his own. All longing of this world lay in her embrace; both could feel the heartbeat of the other one.  
  
After what seemed infinity, they broke away from each other.  
  
Marguerite was sure, for the first time in her life, that she had done the right thing by entrusting and having opened her heart to John Roxton.  
  
Suddenly, the heiress remembered a thought which she had some time ago, when she and Roxton had argued. This time anger wasn't the reason, but it should be fun.  
  
Roxton saw that spark in Marguerites eyes which he had already seen a few times prior.  
  
"What are you doing?" Suppressing her mischievous smile, consulted the dark- haired woman to her Lord. "What should I plan?" she asked hypocritically back. Instead of answering he laughed and kissed her quickly on the cheek. "Pure talent for observation, my love". She laughed "Oh yes! The talent of observation is by hunters more distinctive than other peoples, how could I forget this?" Without waiting for an answer, Marguerite turned around and ran bravely laughing nearer to the lakeside.  
  
"What is so terribly funny?" Roxton followed Marguerite, also laughing. When he reached Marguerite and tried to hug her, the woman pushed away and out of his arms.  
  
"Marguerite!!" desperately he watched her, she ran a distance away from him, again.  
  
John Roxton saw his chance when Marguerite stood so near the lake and had no more alternatives. With a few steps, he reached his Lady and held her tight in his embrace. "So, how does Ms. Krux intend to get out this situation?" Marguerite contained John's face and gave him a fast warm kiss on his lips. "Why should I want to get out this situation? Perhaps it was my full intention." He looked questioningly at her. "Say your lordship, are you also as terribly hot as I am?" He nodded, and lowered his head to kiss her again. Before he could succeed, she spoke further: "Then we should hurry, I don't want you overheat yourself."  
  
With a quick movement she pushed with both hands against the chest of the Lord so that he fell with a cry of surprise backwards into the water. But Marguerite did not reckon that Roxton during his fall and searching for a hold would grab her left arm and Marguerite fell into the lake as well.  
  
Seconds later, Marguerite and Roxton appeared snorting at the surface of the water. Their clothes stuck like a second skin to their bodies, Marguerite's plait had come loose and her dark wet curls hung dripping wet, over her face and shoulders. The heiress saw Roxton through her hair. She then broke out into resounding laughter, because the Lord had got caught in one of the water lilies and when he appeared, some of the flowers now hung over his shoulders and chest.  
  
After Marguerite had regained control, she could not keep her comment back: "I never have thought that the great hunter John Roxton would suddenly finds his feminine side and promptly decorate your clothes with flowers. I'm impressed Lord Roxton."  
  
With a hasty movement, Roxton released himself of his brilliant display of flowers, which induced Marguerite to sink once more into warm laughter.  
  
Before the heiress could react, she found herself high on his arms, to on be pushed under the water. After a few seconds, Marguerite appeared struggling for air.  
  
"Damn John!!! This wasn't fair, I could have drowned!" He took her fast into his arms and he was the one who laughed now "I wouldn't have let you drown." Marguerite wanted to protest, however, John kissed her once again.  
  
~*E°*~  
  
It was shortly before midnight. The moon had its place in the dark sky again. The stars sparkled like on the first day of their appearance. Occasionally one fell as a shooting star in the direction of the earth.  
  
The cool night air mixed with the smell of the lake. The campfire, which had donated warmth and light a few hours ago, had almost gone out except of a weak glow of the ashes could be seen.  
  
The wet clothes, from the evening bath adventure of the Lord and his Lady, weighed on a makeshift clothesline in a gentle breeze.  
  
The tent, in which Marguerite and Roxton slept, was pitched a few metres away from the clothesline. As they had hung up their clothes to dry, they crept into the tent to fall asleep in each others arms.  
  
The Lord was woken up by a noise, he opened his eyes and immediately he looked to Marguerite. She lay beside him, crouched and whimpering like last night in the tree house.  
  
She was in the boarding school again. The same dream, as the night before.  
  
She had just received the message from the nun. Again, no sign of her parents. The deep pain broke out again and the tears forced their way once more...  
  
"Wake up, Marguerite." She woke up. The heiress saw through her tear veiled eyes, John - her John. His voice was hoarse. She recognized by his look that he had been awake for a little time.  
  
"Oh John, it was this awful dream again". She put her head on his chest and let her tears run free. He said nothing, but stroked her hair over and over.  
  
Her tears dried up, and a twitching went through her body while she listened to John's heartbeat.  
  
The Lord seized the moment, "My little Lady, are you ready to tell me about the dream?" She nodded and started to tell.  
  
~*E°*~  
  
After the heiress told Roxton about her dream, she felt herself relieved of a heavy load. "Thank you, Marguerite". Astonished she looked to Lord Roxton "What are you thanking me for?" He answered: "I thank you because you have entrusted to tell me what burdens you."  
  
She sighed and a lonesome tear ran over her cheek.  
  
They listened together to the noises of the night till they finally fell asleep, again.  
  
~*E°*~  
  
"Surprise!!!" As Marguerite, followed by Roxton, walked from the elevator to the living room. The living room was illuminated with many lights. Veronica, dressed in one of her mother's favourite dresses, came toward the surprised heiress and hugged her tightly.  
  
"Congratulations, Marguerite!" Then Challenger and Malone also congratulated Marguerite.  
  
Challenger turned to Roxton: "Looks as if our plan has turned out well." Suddenly Marguerite turned around. "John, you knew about everything?" he grinned "Yes, my job was to lead you away from the tree house so that you did not notice the preparations." Roxton didn't escape the troubled flash in Marguerite's eyes, but the angry look quickly disappeared. Marguerite and Roxton had decided on the home way that they still wanted to keep their love secret for a while longer.  
  
"I don't know how it is with you, but after this trip through the jungle, I'm starving. How about, if we could eat something now?" At these words, Marguerite smiled happily at her Lord.  
  
When the others had gone to sleep, John stood with Marguerite on the balcony, the fingers of their hands interwoven. They heard the cry of the night bird which sat somewhere on a tree in the unfathomable jungle.  
  
End 


End file.
